Coffee and Toffee oh my!

It's that time again... cake slice time! This time we are baking a coffee heath bar crunch cake from Cake Keeper Cakes by Lauren Chattman. I didn't even think I was going to get this cake baked because I have so much going on these days with the kids and just running my household.  In addition to a few sick little ones in the past week, but I managed to get it done and I must say, I'm glad I did! This cake does have a coffee flavor, so If you don't like the taste of coffee in desserts, or if you don't like coffee at all, than this cake is not for you! If you like Heath bars.. (who doesn't like buttery toffee and chocolate), then give this cake a try and let me know what you think!

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Coffee Heath Bar Crunch Cake
Lauren Chattman

For the Cake


1½ cups all purpose flour

1 tbsp instant espresso powder

1½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

1 cup packed light brown sugar

1 egg

1 egg yolk

1½ tsp vanilla extract

1 cup milk



For the Streusel

1 cup/4 Heath bars (1.4ounces each), chopped *(see below)

2 tbsp light brown sugar

2 tbsp all purpose flour

1 tbsp butter, softened

Method – Streusel

Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease a 9inch round springform pan.

Combine the Heath bars, brown sugar, flour and butter in a medium mixing bowl. Work the mixture with your fingers until it resembles large crumbs. Refrigerate until ready to use.



Method – Cake

Combine the flour, espresso powder, baking powder and salt in a medium mixing bowl.

Combine the butter and brown sugar in a large mixing bowl and cream with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. With the mixer on low speed, add the egg, egg yolk and vanilla.

With the mixer on low speed, add a third of the flour mixture and then half the milk, scraping down the bowl after each addition. Repeat, alternating the flour and milk, ending with the flour.

Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth into an even layer with a spatula. Scatter the streusel onto the batter, distributing it evenly over the cake.



Bake the cake until golden and a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean, 55 to 60 minutes. Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Release the sides of the pan and use a large spatula to slide the cake from the pan bottom to onto a wire rack. Cool completely, cut into wedges and serve.

Store uneaten cake in a cake keeper or wrap in plastic and store at room temperature for up to 3 days.



*INGREDIENT NOTES FOR NON AMERICAN BAKERS:

Heath bars are American candy bars consisting of a thin slab of brittle hard toffee, covered in a layer of chocolate. The closest thing we have in the UK is Dime bars. If you don’t have access to these then you can use half the weight of chocolate chips and half with crunched up brittle toffee.

oh yea... I added extra heath on a scoop of vanilla ice cream!